49ers Tangle With #41 UC Irvine On Thursday
Beach Faces Two Big West Opponents This Week
February 28, 2007
PDF Version of Release This Week:
Thursday, March 1 at UC Irvine, 1:30 pm, Irvine, CA
Saturday, March 3 vs. Cal Poly, 11 am, 49er Campus Courts
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This Week: The #35-ranked Long Beach State women's tennis team will take on two Big West Conference foes this week as they travel to #41-ranked UC Irvine on Thursday and host Cal Poly on Saturday at the 49er Campus Courts. Long Beach State is 5-4 on the season, but 3-0 against Big West Conference teams. UC Irvine is 10-2 on the season and 4-0 vs. the Big West. Cal Poly is 4-6 on the year and 1-1 vs. the Big West. They play at UC Riverside on Friday.
Last Year: The 49ers were 22-5 last year, won their third consecutive Big West Conference Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships. Long Beach concluded the season ranked No. 26 in the country, its highest final ranking in school history.
The Series: Long Beach State trails in its series with UC Irvine by a 28-14 count, but the 49ers have won the last eight meetings with the Anteaters. The 49ers won 6-1 during the regular season last year in Long Beach and then defeated UCI 4-0 in the championship match at the Big West Championships at Indian Wells. Long Beach State leads in its series with Cal Poly by an 11-8 margin. Last year the 49ers defeated the Mustangs 4-1 in San Luis Obispo and have won the past three meetings with them.
The Coach: Head Coach Jenny Hilt-Costello (UCLA, 1994) is 143-85 (.627) in her tenth year at Long Beach State. Hilt-Costello has led the 49ers to six consecutive appearances in the Big West Tournament Championship match, winning championships in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. She was voted the Big West Coach of the Year in 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and she was the 2004 ITA West Region Coach of the Year. Three of Hilt-Costello's players have won Big West Conference Player of the Year Awards. Her teams are the only 49er tennis teams to have ever been nationally-ranked, reach a conference final, win a conference title and reach the NCAA Tournament. She currently possesses the school-record for single season (22 wins in 2001 and 2006) and career (143) coaching victories at Long Beach State.
Black & Blue Rivalry Series: This will be a big week between Long Beach State and UC Irvine in the Black & Blue Rivalry Series, presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach. The 49ers lead thus far 16-6, but there are three games on tap this week. The women's tennis team plays at UCI on Thursday afternoon and the men's basketball teams will meet on Thursday night in Long Beach. Saturday night the women's basketball teams play in Irvine. A road win counts three points in the standings, while a home win counts for two points.
Tough Weekend In Las Vegas: The 49ers had a tough weekend in Las Vegas as they dropped three matches, all to nationally-ranked opponents. On Friday the 49ers fell to #39 UNLV 4-3. Long Beach won the doubles point and got singles wins from Stephanie Bengson and Jessica Weeks. Saturday the 49ers fell to #31 Florida International, also by a 4-3 score. The 49ers lost the doubles point to the Golden Panthers, while Hannah Grady, Katy Williams and Sandra Rocha all won their singles matches. Sunday Long Beach fell to #18 Fresno State 5-2. Emmanuelle Tabatruong and Rachael Porsz won their singles matches for the 49ers two points. The Bulldogs featured three nationally-ranked players in their singles line-up, including #2 ranked Melanie Gloria, who slipped past the 49ers #1 player, #52 ranked Hannah Grady, 7-5, 6-1.
Playing The Best: This year's spring schedule is full of nationally-ranked opponents once again. Of the 23 matches, 12 of the opponents are nationally-ranked (USC #8, Fresno State #16, Pepperdine #18, VCU #22, Florida International #28, UNLV #34, Penn #37, UC Irvine #41, San Diego State #54, Iowa #59, LMU #69, and Nevada #75). The 49ers are ranked No. 35 in the country in the FILA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, administered by the ITA (2/27/07).
Individual National Rankings: In the women's singles and doubles rankings, which were released on February 21, Hannah Grady is ranked #52 in the nation in singles. In the pre-season rankings (September 8) Grady was ranked No. 38 in the nation in singles. The 49er doubles team of Grady and Jessica Weeks, which was ranked #48 in early January, fell out of the rankings.
Regional Rankings: In the final fall West Regional Rankings (12/8/06), Hannah Grady was ranked No. 15 in the region and Katy Williams checked in at No. 26. In doubles, Grady and Jessica Weeks were No. 6 while Stephanie Bengson and Katy Williams were No. 12.
Academic Success: The 49er women's tennis team has succeeded in the classroom as well as on the court. This past fall the team had cumulative gpa of 3.56, tops among all 49er athletic teams. Four student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 gpa in the fall 2006 semester. Last season the 49ers were selected as an ITA All-Academic Team (as well as in 2003 and 2005) and had four student-athletes named as ITA Scholar-Athletes (Stephanie Bengson, Krystina Katayama, Rachael Porsz, Jessica Weeks).
Rocha Owns Doubles Record: Senior Sandra Rocha earned her 68th career doubles win on February 2 against CS Fullerton, moving her to first on the 49er career chart. She currently stands in first place with 72 doubles wins. Rocha also has etched her name in the 49er record books for singles wins and overall wins. Her 54 career singles wins is number three all-time and her 126 total wins is number two all-time. Holding down the number one spot for career total wins is Havaja Frljuckic with 133.
Hannah Grady: Grady, a sophomore All-America candidate, is ranked #52 in the nation in singles in the latest ITA Rankings. She is currently 6-3 this spring in singles. Last week she defeated Florida International's Marijana Cutuk, 7-5, 6-1. She fell to the #2 ranked player in the nation on Sunday, falling 7-5, 6-1 to Fresno State's Melanie Gloria. Grady earned a win over #51 ranked Holly Bagshaw of San Diego State on February 16. The win was Grady's seventh against a nationally-ranked opponent in her 49er career. Grady was 3-2 in singles action in the fall and is a combined 9-5 for the year. In doubles, Grady and Jessica Weeks are 4-5 this spring at the #1 spot. They dropped all three matches last week in Las Vegas, including a loss to UNLV's #26-ranked doubles squad. In the fall, Grady and Jessica Weeks went 1-2, playing three nationally-ranked opponents. The fall win came against No. 37-ranked Schofield and Vuckovic of South Carolina, 9-8 (3). Grady was the 2006 Big West Conference Player and Freshman of the Year. She qualified for both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Individual Championships. Grady went 19-6 in singles play with five wins over nationally-ranked opponents. She finished the season ranked No. 53 in singles and she was the ninth-ranked freshman in singles. In doubles, she and Weeks went 19-2, earning a trip to the NCAA Championships, while finishing the year ranked No. 46.
Katy Williams: Williams is 5-3 this spring in singles action. Last weekend defeated FIU's Egle Petrauskaite 6-4, 6-2, but dropped to matches to nationally-ranked players (#80 and #92). Williams began the year ranked No. 85 in singles and she was 4-4 in the fall in singles competition and stands at 9-7 overall this year. Thus far in doubles this spring, Williams is 4-3 with Stephanie Bengson. That pair won two matches last weekend, winning at the #2 spot against pairs from UNLV and Florida International. The loss came on Sunday against Fresno State, where they played at the #1 spot, falling by a score of 8-6. Williams was a first team all-conference selection in singles and doubles last year, finishing 28-9 in singles with four nationally-ranked wins and a national ranking of No. 118. In doubles, she and Sandra Rocha were 23-13 overall and were ranked No. 53 nationally. Her 28 singles victories tied the school record for victories in a single season.
Stephanie Bengson: Bengson improved to 5-4 this spring in singles. Her one win this past weekend came against Nikol Dimitrova of UNLV, 6-2, 6-4. Sunday she fell to the #61-ranked player in the country, Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State, 7-6, 1-6, 2-6. Bengson was 3-3 in the fall in singles and stands at 8-7 overall this year. In doubles, Bengson and Katy Williams are 4-3 this spring. They won two matches last weekend, winning at the #2 spot against pairs from UNLV and Florida International. The loss came on Sunday against Fresno State, where they played at the #1 spot, falling by a score of 8-6. Bengson and Williams ended the fall ranked No. 12 in the West Region in doubles. Bengson was a second team selection in 2006 in singles and she also earned honorable mention honors in doubles.
Sandra Rocha: Rocha stands at 4-2 this spring in singles action playing at the #6 position. Last weekend she defeated Nikkita Fountain of Florida International 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and fell to UNLV's Alisa Razina. In doubles, Rocha and Emmanuelle Tabatruong are 6-2 at number three doubles. In Las Vegas the pair defeated the #56-ranked team in the country on Friday, downing UNLV's Smith and Razina 8-3. Rocha earned second team all-conference honors in singles last year and has been a first team all-league selection in doubles three consecutive years. Last season she and Katy Williams earned a No. 53 national ranking in doubles. Rocha has set her name in the 49er career record books. She is number one in career doubles wins (72), number two in career wins (126) and number three in career singles wins (54).
Jessica Weeks: Weeks is 5-4 this spring in singles action. This past weekend in Las Vegas she went 1-2 at the #4 spot. Her victory came against Claire Smith of UNLV, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5). After going 3-1 in the fall, Weeks is 8-5 this year in singles. In doubles this spring, Weeks and Grady are 4-5. They dropped all three matches this past weekend in Las Vegas. In the fall at the Riviera All-American Championships, Weeks and Grady went 1-2 playing three nationally-ranked opponents. They defeated No. 37-ranked Schofield/Vuckovic of South Carolina 9-8 (3). Grady and Weeks were No. 6 in the West Region at the end of the fall. Weeks earned first team all-league honors in 2006 in doubles with Grady as that duo went 19-2 and finished ranked No. 46 in the nation. Weeks' 26 total doubles victories last year tied for the second-most single season doubles victories in school history.
Rachael Porsz: Porsz is 2-1 this spring in singles. On Sunday she won at #6 singles over Fresno State's Jacqueline Haskett, 6-3, 7-5. Porsz ended the fall season at 3-4 in singles play. In doubles, Porsz teamed with Stephanie Bengson against UC Riverside to win at #2 doubles, 8-3. In the fall she teamed with Bengson to win the Gold Bracket Back Draw Championship at the Cal Nike Invitational. After dropping opening match, the pair won three consecutive matches, including an 8-3 win in the title match over Aloia and Charlot of Saint Mary's. She earned honorable mention all-league honors in doubles last year with Bengson. Porsz ranks tied for #16 in career singles wins with 42, she's #12 in doubles victories with 41 and she is #12 all-time at Long Beach State with 83 career victories.
Emmanuelle Tabatruong: Tabatruong continues to impress in both singles and doubles. Tabatruong is 6-3 this spring in singles, playing mainly at the #5 spot. Last week she went 1-2 in singles, earning a 2-6, 7-5, 10-8 win over Fresno State's Danon Beatty. Tabatruong was 3-4 in the fall in singles, and now stands at 9-7 on the year. In doubles, she has teamed with Sandra Rocha at the number three spot. They are 6-2 this spring in doubles. Last Friday they defeated the #56-ranked UNLV doubles team of Smith/Razina, 8-3. Tabatruong competed at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates in both singles and doubles. In singles play she dropped her opening match in the main draw, but came back to win twice in the back draw. In doubles, she and Denise Liebschner won the back draw title. They defeated Andrews/Inglis (CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 to claim the title.
Denise Liebschner: A true freshman out of Dresden, Germany, Liebschner saw her first action this spring on February 17 against UC Riverside. She played at #6 singles and defeated Alex Khoury 6-2, 6-4. Liebschner compiled a 1-4 singles mark in the fall. She went 0-2 at the CSUF Fall Intercollegiates and 1-2 at the ITA West Regionals in San Diego. In doubles, she was 1-1 with Rachael Porsz at the ITA West Regionals. She teamed with Emmanuelle Tabatruong at the at the CS Fullerton Fall Intercollegiates and that duo won the doubles back draw. They defeated Andrews/Inglis (CS Fullerton) 8-2 and Le/Domela (CS Fullerton) 8-5 to claim the title. Liebschner was ranked No. 23 in Germany in the 18's rankings. She was the winner of the 2005 Berlin Junior Open and the Dresden International Under 18 Tournament. 49er Career Chart
Singles Wins...
1. Havaja Frljuckic 70
2. Antonia Wolff 61
3. Sandra Rocha 54
4 . Lindsey Marvel 53
5 . Jennifer Slattery 51
Doubles Wins...
1. Sandra Rocha 72
2 . Kelly Chan 67
T10. Stephanie Bengson 43
12. Rachael Porsz 41
Overall Wins...
1. Havaya Frljuckic 133
2 . Sandra Rocha 126
3. Antonia Wolff 118
T12. Rachael Porsz 83
T15. Stephanie Bengson 82 |
2007 Schedule
2007 Roster
ITA Tennis Website
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